Formal Logic

13 yrs and up, $195, 14 week course – Prerequisite: One Intermediate Level Course - also Basics of Logic advised but not required

Classical education trains the student in Logic informally through Literature (Grammar), Mathematics, and the Natural Sciences. Indeed, the student uses Logic constantly, not only in his or her other formal studies, but also in everyday thinking and speaking. Why, then, should a student take a course in Formal Logic? Just as the formal study of Grammar can help a student improve his or her writing and speaking skills, so can the formal study of Logic help to improve one’s thinking and debating skills. Over the course of 14 weeks, we will be exploring the different parts of Logic with the help of Aristotle and his “friends”. Students will read excerpts from Aristotle and others that illustrate or seek to explain the three “acts of the mind” that produce the logical term, proposition, and syllogism respectively, discuss these seminal texts in class, and work through problem sets to increase their skill in recognizing, analysing, and constructing definitions, propositions, and arguments.

*WISDOM's Basics of Logic course focuses on the practical or applied use of Logic, whereas this course concentrates on the principles that make up the concept of Logic and how it forms the way we think and then act.*

Thursdays, 9 - 10:30 AM 
Formal Logic    Charles Robertson